Magdaleno Castañeda –

On the eve of Three Kings Day, Humboldt Park witnessed a special visit by Puerto Rican artist, Osvaldo Budet, whose paintings were unveiled at the opening night of “Romantic Political Affair,” an exhibit of the artist’s work at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC). Despite the cold of a typical Chicago winter, dozens of people, including a television camera crew, gathered at IPRAC for an evening of art and appetizers. The exhibit consisted of seven paintings that varied between color and black and white.

Ray Vázquez, president of the IPRAC Board of Directors, welcomed everyone to the opening of the exhibit, which will run until March 5. José E. López, executive director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, introduced Budet and thanked him for his visit, as well as for the mural Budet created at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School. “How do we camouflage through art, messages we want to send about resistance,” was the question López asked the audience in explaining the themes behind Budet’s work.

“There is a duality between comedy and tragedy in Mexican life and cultural expression that resonates with Budet’s art in “Romantic Political Affair,” said López, who made also made connections between Budet’s work to that of Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. When Budet spoke, he first thanked everyone for attending the exhibit and explained a little about his paintings saying, “I try to make politics more accessible to me and to all through humor.” This humor was visible in the “Where’s Waldo?” characteristic of Budet’s painting, which all include an image of himself. “Humor is a key to deal with anything,” Budet said. Many of his painting combine the humor with political events from the past like the Spanish Civil War as well as the Vietnam War. Budet also emphasized the importance of identity in his work. “The only thing we have is identity and we have to unite to keep our identity and respect other’s identity.”

After his speech, Budet socialized with the crowd and answered the public’s questions regarding his artwork. He also invited everyone to the community workshop and lecture at IPRAC held on January 9. It was great for Budet to have taken time from his busy schedule of studying art in Germany to visit Paseo Boricua. IPRAC was a very fitting place for the “Romantic Political Affair” exhibit because as Budet said, “Here is a place that preserves our culture.”

José Luis Rodríguez –

On December 9, 2009, the Institute for Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC) sponsored its first annual NaviJazz Concert held at VLive nightclub (2047 North Milwaukee). The concert will become a regular feature of the Institute’s work in promoting Puerto Rican musicians who have, and continue to make, significant contributions to the musical genre of Latin Jazz.

The very first concert featured the legendary William Cepeda, Puerto Rican trombonist, composer, and arranger. Cepeda brought with him a legend in his own right, pianist Edwin Figueroa, formerly of Batacumbele. These two legends were backed up by Chicago’s very own Latin jazz band, Latin Inspiration, led by Johnny Rodríguez, who has been recognized as one of Chicago’s top trombone players, along with Afri-Caribe, Chicago’s premier bomba group, led by Tito Rodríguez.

The night outside was in a deep freeze with temperatures bottoming out to the single digits. Inside was quite another reality. The temperature was beyond hot—slowly rising with each melody and each note that the musicians played. Cepeda showed his mastery as composer, arranger, and conductor by effortlessly fusing the genre of Latin Jazz— its emphasis on the trombone, trumpet and saxophone— with the rhythmic heart beating percussions of bomba.

On stage, Cepeda challenged each musician to give their absolute best performance. The crowd, which included more than 500 people, was awed while treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience in seeing Cepeda not only lead these musicians, but watch as he himself put down the trombone and picked up his shells and began to blow into them. He played the shells as if they were his trombone, blowing melodic sounds that combined and blended smoothly with every note. It was a showcase of the best that our musicians have to show, both from the Puerto Rico and from Paseo Boricua/Humboldt Park, Chicago—the common denominator certainly being they were all Boricua. This was undoubtedly a memorable night—one that has set the bar high for the future of NaviJazz.

Dear friend and supporter:

On September 6, 2009, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center will once again host the annual Fiesta Boricua. This year will mark the 16th year of this incredible festival, which attracts over 200,000 individuals annually and features the very best in Puerto Rican music, cuisine, and artisanry. We are appealing to you to help make this event a reality. Due to the economic crisis there are few sponsors available this year. We are asking for you to join a new initiative called “Friends of Fiesta Boricua” and make a financial contribution to this year’s celebration. This will ensure that Fiesta Boricua will become more organic and sustainable. The following categories of support are available:

A.    Clave: $1000 +
B.    Guiro: $999 – $700
C.    Conga: $699  – $400
D.    Cuatro: $399 – $100

The names of contributors will be listed according to the above categories in the official Fiesta Boricua program and in La Voz del Paseo Boricua. All contributions must be made by Monday, August 31 by 5pm. All contributions are tax-deductible. For more information or to make a contribution, please contact Jonathan Rivera-Lizardi at 773-227-7794 or Zenaida López at 773-278-6737.

Gratefully yours,

José E. López,
Executive Director,
Puerto Rican Cultural Center

Lolita Lebron - (Center, sitting down)

by Dan Berger

July 4 in Puerto Rico was less a celebration of independence than a demand for it. That night, more than 100 people attended the closing event for Not Enough Space, an art show featuring the works of political prisoners Oscar López Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres, as well as a replica of the small cells in which they have each spent almost 30 years.

The exhibit was housed at a community center in San Sebastián, which was on the same grounds where scores of vendors and artisans from around the island had come that very weekend to sell homemade hammocks, paintings, leather goods and other materials at the 29th annual Festival de la Hamaca. The first thing festival goers saw upon arrival was a giant banner proclaiming that Puerto Rico awaits the return of López and Torres.

The night before, festival planners awarded one of the island’s renowned linguist, Luz Nereida Pérez, for her work to study and preserve Spanish. She dedicated her award to López, saying the continued incarceration of this San Sebastián native “affects us all.” The town’s mayor, a supporter of Puerto Rican statehood, was one of several speakers at the July 4 finale; he too called for López’ freedom.

Five of the 11 political prisoners released in 1999 attended the closing event, as did the 102-year-old Isabel Rosado. For her lifetime involvement in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence, and in honor of the local artisans, event organizers presented the legendary activist with a hammock.

This event was not the first time that independence supporters gathered that week. Two nights before the closing, two dozen people gathered to hear Puerto Rican Cultural Center director José López speak about the beauty and the struggles of Puerto Rico. And on June 30, more than 150 people came to a wake in Mayagüez in memory of Miguel Sanchez, a shoemaker and longtime activist against the U.S. military presence in Vieques. Independentists from across the island, including Puerto Rican Socialist Party founder Juan Mari Bras, attended his wake and a celebration of his life the following evening. On July 4, Luis Rosa praised Sánchez as both a brilliant strategist and a tireless organizer.

These public events revealed a continuing push for the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners through a unified demand across Puerto Rican civil society. This unity succeeded in winning the unconditional release of one Puerto Rican Nationalist in 1977 and his four comrades in 1979. It won the freedom of 11 more prisoners in 1999. And it effectively removed the U.S. military from the island of Vieques in 2003. In interviews held during the week preceding the July 4 event, leading independence figures—Lolita Lebrón, Nelson Canals, Rita Zengotita, José Fortuño, and Juan Mari Bras, among others—each pointed to this unity of purpose as the reason for the movement’s successes in the past three decades. Such unity has repeatedly made the impossible inevitable.

Irmgard Iglesias lives in San Juan. During the 1970s, she lived in New York City and worked with a Puerto Rican organization called Resistancia Puertorriqueña. As we drove the two hours from San Sebastián to San Juan, Iglesias told me that she never thought the five Nationalists would get out of prison. To her delight they did, and it confirmed for her what she said she has always known: “I’ve never had any doubt that we will get our independence. I know we will be free.”

Dan Berger lives in Philadelphia and is the author of Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity (AK Press, 2006).

Isabel Rosado (Green Shirt)

(Picture: Pablo Marcano Garcia)

by Pedro Sarsama

Just west of the beautiful banderas of Paseo Boricua is the newly-opened Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC), the only museum exclusively dedicated to Puerto Rican art & culture in the states. Humboldt Park has historically been Chicago’s largest Puerto Rican community and in the face of gentrification, many are striving to preserve our Pedacito de Patria. Situating IPRAC in Humboldt Park is part of the conscious effort on behalf of community members to preserve Puerto Rican culture and community here. Located in the historic Horse Stables and Receptory of Humboldt Park (3015 W. Division), IPRAC is also helping to preserve this beautiful landmark. IPRAC has restored about eighty percent of the facility and is actively working to complete the renovations.
IPRAC’s opening reception, held on June 12, was a great success with 250 guests that included many notable community, business, and educational leaders. Among these important guests was Billy Ocasio, former 26th Ward Alderman. Ocasio gave wonderful remarks praising the hard work of the Board of Directors and IPRAC’s supporters. At the opening José López, Executive Director of IPRAC, presented artist Pablo Marcano García, whose exhibit Luz y Color is currently on display at IPRAC. Marcano García gave a powerful opening to his exhibition, which he feels represents hope for Puerto Ricans. He presented Margaret Burroughs, a major arts figure in the African American community, one of his paintings to be donated to the Dusable Museum. Luz y Color is a vibrant exhibit celebrating Puerto Rican history and culture through a series of paintings and silkscreens.

IPRAC is currently working on building a permanent collection of work by Puerto Rican artists, offering year-round programs of permanent and traveling exhibitions, giving educational art workshops, and hosting various art and film festivals.

The first of these festivals is the Puerto Rican Film Series, taking place at dusk on August 8 and 22, showcasing films by Puerto Rican filmmakers. Also coming up at IPRAC is the Barrio Art Fest on September 19 and 20.

IPRAC is free and open to the public throughout the summer. Its hours of operation are Thursday-Friday 3 PM – 7 PM, Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM, and Sunday 12 PM – 5 PM. Luz y Color is on display July 6 until September 6. More information about these and other events can be found by visiting IPRAC or calling (773) 486-8345.

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On Tuesday, March 3, 2009 the Puerto Rican Cultural Center concludes a year-long celebration entitled “Jornada 100 X 35.” This title was chosen with a threefold purpose: 1) to symbolize the dimensions of Puerto Rico, 2) to raise $50,000 by identifying 100 people to pledge $325 and 35 people to pledge $500-we are near this benchmark at $40,000-and 3) to pay homage to the life and legacy of Puerto Rican patriot and National Poet Juan Antonio Corretjer on his centennial and celebrate the 35th year of the founding of the PRCC. The PRCC utilized this “Jornada” to create  markers that would inform the historical memory of Juan Antonio Corretjer for future generations to come.

The first of these “markers” began when the Jornada was launched with a showcasing of all the PRCC’s programs and the unveiling of the commemorative 100 X 35 poster on March 3, 2008. In April of 2008 the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Union for Puerto Rican Students dedicated the 14th Annual Pa’lante Conference to Juan Antonio Corretjer and along with the National Boricua Human Rights Network, celebrated his legacy as a Puerto Rican political prisoner and his commitment to the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners over the years; this included a lecture by Puerto Rican human rights activist/attorney Eduardo Villanueva and a musical rendition of Corretjer’s poetry by the Orquesta Nacional Mapeyé. In June, in conjunction with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science’s symposium “Community As Intellectual Space,” the 30th Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade was celebrated under the slogan “The Aesthetics of Resistance: The Act of Community Building.” This theme was drawn from Corretjer’s work Poesia y Revolucion.

In addition, a new mural depicting Juan Antonio was added on Paseo Boricua in back of La Casita de Don Pedro by Mexican artist Manelik Gutiérrez.  In August, on the eve of the 15th Annual Fiesta Boricua, the PRCC and El Quijote Bookstore sponsored a book signing of ”Un Boricua En La Luna” written by Carlos Quiles Rodríguez about Juan Antonio Corretjer’s influence on the PRCC’s work in Chicago. In addition, a bust of Corretjer by Puerto Rican sculptor Juan Nuñez was unveiled at La Estancia as well as a new mural at the PRCC Annex, 2700 W. Haddon, by Puerto Rican painter Pablo Marcano García. Finally, in December 2008, the PRCC published Juan Antonio Corretjer’s “La Lucha por La Independencia” translated by his daughter Consuelito (the first English translation of Corretjer’s major publications).

Furthermore, the PRCC was instrumental in helping to promote other events commemorating Juan Antonio Corretjer in Philadelphia, New York and Puerto Rico.[/lang_en]

[lang_en]

Roz Diane Lasker and John A. Guirdy recently published the book, Engaging the Community in Decision Making, summarizing how five community partnerships attempted to address the growing field of community participation, which promises to include formerly excluded community members from decision-making process. One chapter of the book is dedicated to the saving of the Humboldt Park Mural, La Crucificación de Don Pedro, located on the corner of North Avenue and Artesian Street. The chapter deals with the community’s attempt to save the mural against the backdrop of the forces of gentrification and the intersection of the work by Alderman Billy Ocasio, Near Northwest Neighborhood Network (NNNN) and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.[/lang_en]

[lang_en]

El Bronx, NY – How do you pay tribute to a person that meant so much and that will be missed by so many people? That was Chegüi Torres, a person who was the life of any conversation or party.

Chegüi was a master with a microphone. He educated people with facts about the Latino community that even made some of us educators and activist feel like students again. I sometimes felt like I was in a lecture hall in college when I listened to Chegüi speaking. He also motivated us by his sheer experience coming up the ropes as a Puerto Rican boxer in a racist and dirty business that could easily swallow the best of them. That was Chegüi, an asset to our community. A boxer from Ponce, Puerto Rico in the cement jungle of New York who became the first Latin-American world light-heavyweight boxing champion, turned journalist, writer and author. In 1956, Chegüi won the Silver Medal at the Olympics for the USA in Boxing.

José “Chegüi” Torres was one incredible role model for anyone that took the time to speak to him.  The fact that he was loved in the Puerto Rican communities of the 60’s is a matter of record. He was an inspiration for every Boricua sweating in the factories of New York struggling in a city that did not understand our political plight.
The 1960’s were a very rough period for the Boricua’s living in this city. It was the height of the struggles between Italians and Puerto Ricans that was manifested in many schoolyards, rooftops and parks in this city with casualties that would equal those of many undeclared wars that received no international attention. It was West Side Story in every community where Puerto Rican’s were moving into and Italians were holding on to.

In was during that volatile period in our history that Chegüi Torres got his long awaited chance to fight for the World Championship that was being delayed for no other reason except that he was a dark skin Puerto Rican. Finally in 1965 Chegüi was given the opportunity to fight the reining Champ, Willie Pastrano the pride of the Italian’s.

This might seem trivial today, however, historians would tell you that no other countries national anthem, other than the American national anthem was ever played in a boxing match, especially if both fighters were American citizens.

On March 30th, 1965, Chegüi was anxiously waiting when he was informed that they would not be able to play the Puerto Rican National Anthem. Chegüi said, “I was promised that we could play the Puerto Rican National Anthem and if we don’t I’m not fighting.”

Finally, the promoters and organizers told him it was worked out and that he could sing the national anthem. Chegüi smiled, walked out of the dressing room and headed for the ring to make a little piece of history. Chegüi called out to his Compadre, none other than singer, Felipe Rodriguez, one of the most popular Puerto Rican singers of all time. Felipe, who was sitting in the first row came up to sing the Puerto Rican National Anthem and thus it was the first time that a national anthem, other than the American national anthem was performed in a major boxing match and quite possibly in any sports event in this country.

Chegüi then went out to make history for the second time by knocking out, Willie Pastrano in the ninth round and becoming the third Puerto Rican to win a World title and the first Latino to win a light-heavyweight title. He started his professional boxing career in May 1958 and in 11 years as a fighter he won 41 fights (29 by KO), 3 losses and one tie. After retiring he became a known author, writer and sports reporter. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

He was a friend to every progressive cause and will also be in our memory as a friend and supporter to Latino Sports.

The above article is an excerpt. The full length version can be found at  latinosports.com/boxing/tribute-to-jos-cheg-i-torres.html.[/lang_en]

[lang_en]

Jonathan Rivera Lizardi

On the day of the epiphany, thousands of children gathered at the Humboldt Park Field House to receive gifts from the Three Wise Men. Moments earlier, braving the cold winds, Humboldt Park families, elected officials and community leaders began to parade down Division Street towards the Field House to commence the 15th Annual Three Kings Day Winter Festival on Paseo Boricua. The parade took off from Rebaño Church (2435 W. Division St.) where parents received tickets for the gift-giveaway.

Standing under Puerto Rican streetlights, spectators watched on as children packed into trolleys, youth walked alongside the horse drawn carriage with Los Tres Reyes Magos, not wanting to miss a thing. As the crowd marched, Paseo Boricua business owners and residents waved and took photos of the Three Kings, many of them behind the warmth of their windows.

The spirit of this important cultural celebration was not to be denied as the lively eyes and enthusiastic cheers of children made Old Man Winter irrelevant. Once at the Field House, all present were treated to creamy hot chocolate, courtesy of a special collaboration between the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA), under leadership of Maddi Elga Amil, and Bustelo. The volunteers and members of Latin American Motorcycle Association (LAMA) handed out over 1,000 toys.

Many Boricuas came back once again to El Barrio for this yearly event, which would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of Alderman Billy Ocasio (26th Ward), and the coordination of the Division Street Business Development Association (DSBDA), Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC), Latin American Motorcycle Association (LAMA), Chicago Park District-Humboldt Park, Toys for Tots, Marine Corps and the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration.[/lang_en]